Texas to get tough on Home Improvement Contractor Fraud
New legislation has been introduced to overhaul the Texas Residential Construction Commission. Bill 1686 is designed to give more protection to homeowners and seniors in particular.
The bill highlights:
- all home builders to be registered with the TRCC
- all home improvement contractors doing work over $2500 to be registered
- free TRCC complaint process for homeowners
- criminal charges can be laid against offending contractors
- establishment of a recovery fund to help provide relief from certain types of damages
- much more …
From a statement released by the Texas House of Representatives:
There are many reputable builders and remodeling contractors who do a good job on home improvement projects. For those who don’t, we’re putting some teeth in the law so that homeowners will be protected … There have been too many horror stories of contractors who have taken money from elderly homeowners and left the job half-done, or not done at all. This Bill would put a stop to that kind of scam.
– State Representative Ruth Jones McClendon (District 120, San Antonio)
Read the actual Bill (PDF).
Rep. McClendon’s Press Release.
Detailed report on HomeOwners for Better Building, a consumer action site.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 5:28 pm and is filed under News & Analysis, Hiring a Contractor, Consumer Action, States, Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.














on November 9, 2007 at 11:54 pm Blue Alvarez wrote:
Aug. 2, 2007 - Scott Hardin from 5-H Remodeling, New Braunfels, Texas, came to my home (San Antonio, Texas) to give me an estimate on a remodeling job.
Aug. 3, 2007 - Scott Hardin showed up at my home with contract in hand and went happily away with my deposit.
Today is Nov. 9, 2007 and 5-H Remodeling (owner Angie Hardin) has worked a total of 3 days on my remodeling job and no one from the company has even been to my home since 091807. Numerous requests for a refund have gone ignored by 5-H Remodeling and their attorney.
The same thing happened to my friend, who’s elderly father gave 5-H Remodeling a very large deposit on Aug. 13, 2007, and he never finished that job nor refunded the gentleman’s money. Complaints have been filed against 5-H Remodeling with the Better Business Bureau, Texas Attorney General, TRCC, City of San Antonio, San Antonio Police Department
on November 26, 2007 at 5:33 pm Joseph Montez wrote:
Aug. 13, 2007 Scott Hardin of 5-H Remodeling/ Hardin Builders, New Braunfels, TX. entered in to a home improvement contract with my elderly father in law (79 years old). We gave him a check for $19,000 to begin a home improvement project. He has shown up sporadically for 9 days since then and has now taken off with our money. He has an attorney that has been advising him on how to skirt the law just enough to stay out of trouble. His attorney’s name is James Millan in San Antonio. How much of my $19,000 is going to Millan? Together they have kepted my father in law’s money and refuse to give it back to him. They have demolished 50% of his home, left him with exposed sewer lines, water lines and gas lines. They knocked down his wash room and now his washer and dryer and water heater are outside the home and exposed to the elements and now winter has set in. My 79 yr. old father in law has to do his laundry out in the cold. We have filed complaints to the Better Business Bureau, Texas Attorney General, TRCC, City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Police Department. We will soon be filing a complaint with the San Antonio Bar Association asking them to look into the attorney as well. Be very careful when dealing with these subjects. One will take your money and the other will threaten to sue you if you speak up. We cannot back down we must do something to stop this type of abuse. Other individuals involved with 5-H Remodiling/ Hardin Builders are Angela Hardin and Jerry Webb.
on November 26, 2007 at 8:58 pm Susie Serrano wrote:
My father, a 79 yr old San Antonio homeowner signed a contract and gave a large deposit to 5H Remodeling/Hardin Builders in Aug ‘07 for a remodeling job. Scott Hardin is the front person, talks about the family business , years of experience and facilitates the contract signing. Jerry Webb is the owner/licensed contractor. They now also use Angela Hardin as the owner/licensed contractor . The address they list (1308 E. Commons,New Braunfels,TX, Suite 205) is for ‘Mail it Plus’, a mailbox office. They will take your money, work for a couple of days and then the excuses and stalling tactics for not showing up to work start. This company has left the back yard torn up, leaving exposed water pipes, gas lines and an exposed water heater, which are all hazards. There is still an dumpster in the yard that they refuse to remove - no one has been back to work since Sept 28, 2007. They have been reported to BBB, Tx Attorney General, TRCC, City of San Antonio, SA Police Deptartment and as soon as they know you have reported them, their attorney James Millan contacts you. Apparently their attorney has handled more my case for them.
on November 27, 2007 at 10:13 am Mr and Mrs Jose Castillo wrote:
Jose l. Castillo , S.A. TX. 78201
This this year my family was robbed of 17,700.00 from our contractor,
Hardin Builders/5H remodeling. The owners are Angela Hardin, Scott Hardin,
and Jerry Webb. We hired them in April of 07 to remodel our home and
checked them at the state and city levels for their legitamacy. Even
after we reported them to the City Chief Inpsector Ernest Martinez
for abandoning our job and running with our monies, he and no one
their would listen or heed our warning regarding 5H Remodeling/Hardin
Builders conducting illegal business. Subsiquently they remained
untouched and were able to steal from other home owners in the city of
San Antonio. As the city official stated so long as they pay for
their license they cannot stop any business from conducting business just because they receive
complaints from home owners.
Although Scott/Angela Hardin own a bed and breakfast out of New
Braunfels which generates monie they refuse to refund us our entire
amount. He has gone as far as hiring a lawyer, James Millan from San Antonio, in
efforts to avoid refunding us our monies. KSAT 12 aired a report
Friday, Nov 23 at 10pm regarding this company and the many of us that
he robbed monies from.
on July 11, 2008 at 10:31 am William F. Fisher, MD wrote:
Dear Sirs:
Chris Kick, aka “Knute Chris Kick”, aka Houston Marine Construction, aka D & G Design, aka Deck and Gazebo Design, aka Shoreline Construction Services, was paid $20,000.00 advance to perform construction of a bulkhead and boathouse on my property in Seabrook, TX. The total cost of the job was to be $53,500.00. Specifically he was to remove my old bulkhead and boathouse, then construct a new bulkhead, dock, and boathouse based on my plans. There was a signed contract, and the money was transferred to him in a notarized transaction in the presence of a Chase Bank Vice-President.
His workers came to my property for several days in June. They performed a partial demolition of my old boathouse, but left the pilings from the old structure in place (”We’ll get them out later.”). He drove some pilings for the new structure amid the old pilings. Some of the boathouse pilings he drove were crooked, and the pilings for the planned dock were driven in the wrong locations. Chris Kick said, “Don’t worry, this is how we do it. You’re going to love it.” No work was done on removing the old bulkhead, or installing a new one.
Then Chris and his workers disappeared. Chris never answered my phone calls, so I finally went to a local Home Depot store and called him from their number. Chris answered at once, and told me that he was not going to return to the worksite, and that I should get another company to finish the job. He said that the work he had completed had consumed my entire $20,000.00. He said he would not return any money to me, that he did not have to talk to me anymore, and that he was going to hang up, which he did.
Debris from the old boathouse and his workers litters my yard and driveway. Loose scaffolding and other wood debris are scattered among the few pilings he did place, and will break loose with the next storm. It will cost a significant amount of money to repair Chris’s poor work, remove the rest of the old boathouse, and clean up the piles of debris. Then I will still have to build the new dock and boathouse, as well as remove and replace my bulkhead. Of course, I have extensive photographic and video documentation of all this.
This same individual has already been reported in RipoffReports under the name of “Knute Chris Kick” and “D & G Designs.” When I read these reports, the conversations between Chris Kick and his victims, sound identical to the things Chris told me. I suspect there are multiple other victims of this individual in the greater Houston area. I am in the process of pursuing both civil and criminal actions against Knute Chris Kick, so I won’t say more at this time since Mr. Kick has probably been tipped off to this website.
A couple of suggestions to Mr. Kick’s other victims: Notify the Better Business Bureau of Houston. This would help to protect future potential customers. Notify other marine and general contractors about what happened to you. Also, file a police report in your area, then take that case number to your District Attorney. Explain to them that this is not an isolated situation, and give them a printout of this Ripoff Report. While one case is a civil matter, multiple cases can constitute fraud and deceptive trade practices. Finally, notify your local TV Stations. They love investigative stories on businesses that defraud the public, and if enough people are involved, they will respond.
The bottom line is, Knute Chris Kick has a signed contract with me, was given $20,000.00 in advance, has done little work and a lot of damage, refuses to return to the worksite, and says all my money has been spent.
I will file a detailed report on this web site once cleared to do so by my attorney. Feel free to contact me through this website.
William F. Fisher, MD, FAAEM, FASAM